Paulie Malignaggi will still be making his return to the world of bare knuckle boxing, it will just come a few weeks later than first expected. The BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing commentator has a focus on stepping into the Mighty Trigon to compete with former BKFC title challenger Tyler Goodjohn who will be standing across from Malignaggi as his return opponent.
The initial scheduling of the contest was positioned on September 6th in Bristol, UK but BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing’s Hall of Fame matchmaker Mel Valenzuela has announced that the BKB 45 main event will no longer be Malignaggi vs. Goodjohn.
Malignaggi sustained a sprained thumb during his preparations for his return to the world of gloveless combat with the IBF junior welterweight and WBA welterweight champion posting a video address to touch upon the highly anticipated bare knuckle boxing bout being moved to later on in the Fall.
Paulie Malignaggi vs. Tyler Goodjohn, date and location for rescheduled bout
Paulie Malignaggi is a decorated gloved boxer who did previously fought under the BKFC banner and it will be interesting to see how he approaches his sophomore bare knuckle fight over six years after his debut effort. Malignaggi initially fought Artem Lobov at BKFC 6 in the Summer of 2019 and lost to ‘The Russian Hammer’ on points in what was a massive fight for the promotion during the nascent stages of their growth.
Conversely, Tyler Goodjohn is a former BKB champion who wrested the strap from bare knuckle legend Sean George. After a BKFC stint that saw him vie for Luis Palomino’s lightweight belt at BKFC 18, ‘El Tornado’ returned to fighting under his prior promotional banner when he earned a win on points over Joseph Smith at BKB 40 in April.
The Cambridgeshire-based fighter will still get to throw down in front of a partisan crowd though as the bout rescheduling will still Goodjohn get to compete in front of the fervent fight fans in the United Kingdom. The rescheduling also won’t be hugely separated from the initially scheduled date as Malignaggi vs. Goodjohn will now transpire on October 18th at BKB 47 in Leeds at Ice Palace.
Paulie Malignaggi will be returning to the world of gloveless combat after several years out of the bare knuckle game and one of the sport’s top fighters pound for pound today has weighed in on this. During a recent chat on Bare Knuckle Bowker, Harry Gigliotti touched on several subjects in the aftermath of defending his BKB super lightweight Police Gazette title against Kallum Skhane BKB 43: Bolton Brawl on July 5th.
Also through the pugilistic proceedings of that recent BKB event, Paulie Malignaggi has expressly mapped out a return to bare knuckle boxing to face Tyler Goodjohn for his second bare knuckle bout overall and Malignaggi’s first foray into the BKB Mighty Trigon. Malignaggi had previously fallen short on points to Artem Lobov at BKFC 6 in a key fight that ignited a lot of North American interest in bare knuckle when the two battled in June 2019.
In regards to the announcement of ‘Magic Man’ returning to the ring at BKB 45 on September 6th to fight Goodjohn, Gigliotti said,
“He’s a legend in the game, you know what I mean? So it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool to see Paulie Malignaggi back in the ring in general but let alone in my world of bare-knuckle and stuff like that. Paulie is someone that I’ve looked up to and I knew in the game. I actually had fights out here in this area over at the Hampton Beach Casino where I’m thirty five minutes of a drive from. So it’s like Paulie’s keeping the sport alive. Well not alive, but growing it out, you know what I mean, and building it up.”
Paulie Malignaggi’s bare knuckle return touched on by BKB champion
As he kept expounding upon his thoughts in this context, Gigliotti continued, “So it’s one of those things that you get a big name like that in the game and more eyes start to look. More people want to tune in and stuff like that. So I appreciate Paulie for coming back and doing this for the fighters and stuff. Obviously he wants to get a world title he said. I don’t know if you’ve heard some of his interviews but he’s looking to grab a bare knuckle world title which in that weight class that would be I believe Liam’ Rocky’ Rees. That would be a fight down the line to make.”
Former rival Paulie Malignaggi has given his thoughts on what Conor McGregor would be like in the world of politics.
As we know, Conor McGregor isn’t particularly involved in the world of mixed martial arts right now. While he continues to tease the possibility of a return to the UFC at some point in the future, his focus is more on politics. He wants to become president of Ireland, although based on what most people in the country is saying, it seems unlikely at this point.
Conor McGregor is the definition of a divisive figure and that much is an understatement. He’s made a lot of enemies over the years, including Paulie Malignaggi, who he sparred with in preparation for his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather back in the day.
In a recent interview with Spin Genie, Paulie Malignaggi gave his thoughts on Conor McGregor properly entering politics.
“I don’t think McGregor will ever come back but he’ll tease it. As far as politics, he’s very bribeable as far as being lobbied. He could use his popularity [to get into office] if he gets lobbied and bribed by the right people. “If he lets himself be bought by the right people, it’s possible. And he’s definitely a candidate to be bought by the right people because he’s like I said, he’s got no backbone.
“But I notice Ireland is sort of holding its own push back against certain kinds of movements. “Considering all the money he’s made, and the potential that he has to help people, even in politics, he’ll only ever be about himself.”
Conor McGregor has been back in the headlines this week as he hosted his first press conference as part-owner of BKFC ahead of the company’s scheduled event in Marbella, Spain later this year.
The former UFC two-weight world champion was scheduled to fight in the Octagon for the first time in three years at UFC 303 recently, but a foot injury put paid to those plans. Speaking at the BKFC press conference, the Irishman revealed that he only has two fights left on his current contract with the UFC and said that he has ambitions to test the waters inside the bareknuckle ring once those commitments are fulfilled.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five intriguing options we would love to see “The Notorious” face in BKFC.
Nate Diaz
The rivalry between McGregor and Diaz has simply refused to go away ever since the pair first met inside the Octagon at UFC 196 back in 2016. Diaz took the fight on short notice as a replacement for McGregor’s original opponent Rafael Dos Anjos and shocked the world by handing the then-featherweight champion his first defeat in the UFC.
https://youtu.be/G3ZsRG5gcNY?si=vAOP6EX4-yil60Ug
McGregor won an immediate rematch via majority decision just five months later and it seemed it would only be a matter of time before the pair would square off again. The rubber match never came, however, and Diaz fought out his UFC contract, finishing up with a submission victory over Tony Ferguson in September of 2022.
Although he failed to enter the title picture during his career inside the Octagon, Perry is now regarded as one of the biggest draws in combat sports outside the UFC.
Jorge Masvidal
“Gamebred” was a mainstay in the UFC’s lightweight and welterweight divisions between 2013-2023. He twice fought for the 170lb title against Kamaru Usman but was unsuccessful both times. After leaving the UFC (and temporarily retiring) in 2023 he recently made his first foray into the world of boxing when he faced Nate Diaz.
McGregor invited the former IBF and WBA welterweight boxing champion into his camp as a sparring partner in the lead up to his infamous boxing match against Floyd “Money” Mayweather back in 2017. After sharing multiple clips of McGregor knocking down Malignaggi during the workouts all over social media, tensions between the pair spiralled and rumors circulated that they would meet in a boxing match further down the line.
Malignaggi has carved out a career as a boxing commentator and analyst and has worked on BKFC events since his retirement from fighting. At 42-years-old, could we see him tempted into one more fight with his old rival?
After Nurmagomedov conclusively beat “The Notorious” at UFC 229 back in 2018 to claim the UFC lightweight championship, the Irishman campaigned tirelessly for a rematch. His disappointment at Khabib announcing his retirement just two years later was captured on camera during the filming of his documentary McGregor Forever, and the Dubliner has never missed an opportunity to berate Nurmagomedov when given the chance in the years that have passed.
Conor McGregor fired back at one new target and one from years past after both took aim at the Irishman’s boxing skills.
Conor McGregor has remained active after breaking his leg at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier. He has spent much of his time bulking up and active resting. And now, he has begun to hit the pads as he inches closer to his targeted summer return.
When footage of McGregor engaging in an outdoor training session was released, the Irishman left himself wide open to criticism from peers and haters alike, or in this case both.
Notorious troll Jake Paul shared his thoughts on McGregor’s handiwork, calling it “embarrassing” and telling McGregor “Your chin (is) wide open with no head movement for the PRBLM CHILD right hand of god.”
This is far from the first time Paul has jabbed McGregor. The former champ-champ was even one of Paul’s targets in his Dana White Diss Track.
Additionally, Paul has been angling for a fight with McGregor for roughly a year now, roasting him at every turn. In fact, the YouTuber even went so far as to create a “Sleepy McGregor chain,” which depicted McGregor’s posture on the mat immediately after getting TKOd by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257.
But through all the jokes and challenges, McGregor has never issued a direct response to Paul. That is until Friday.
After Paul’s critique of McGregor’s boxing technique, “The Notorious” posted the following video on his Twitter page:
After shadowboxing in bed for a few seconds, McGregor would shout, “Jackass!” before belting out a hearty laugh.
McGregor & Malignaggi Back At It Again
Soon after McGregor’s exchange with Paul, a name from McGregor’s past, Paulie Malignaggi, also weighed in on McGregor’s training video. Unsurprisingly, the “Magic Man” was not complimentary.
“I left you like a little seesaw,” McGregor said with an image from their infamous sparring session prior to the MayMac event.
Malignaggi has always argued that him hitting the canvas during this session was actually a result of a push and that he wasn’t actually dropped by a McGregor punch. He also repeatedly called on McGregor to release the full sparring footage instead of cherry-picked clips.
Though Malignaggi and McGregor never had the opportunity to compete in a full boxing match, Malignaggi did have the opportunity to fight McGregor’s close friend Artem Lobov in a bare-knuckle boxing match in 2019.
Paulie Malignaggi is all for being Jake Paul’s next opponent.
Jake Paul is currently 5-0 in his professional boxing career. He has been taking it nice and easy thus far with his opponent selection, only fighting a fellow YouTuber, a retired NBA player, and a pair of MMA fighters with zero pro boxing experience.
Now, a new name has entered the Jake Paul sweepstakes, and it is someone who the MMA community is very familiar with: former WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi.
Paulie Malignaggi
Of course, while Paul usually jousts with MMA fighters in trash talk on social media, Malignaggi’s internet headbutting is known more for being with MMA fans.
This began after Malignaggi went back and forth with fans over leaked sparring footage between him and McGregor in 2017, with Malignaggi disputing whether or not he was dropped and continuing to brand McGregor fans as “groupies.”
Malignaggi once even took a moment to thank MMA fans for their “stupidity” in thinking that his bare-knuckle boxing match with Artem Lobov would be competitive so that he could profit off of the lopsided contest. Lobov would go on to win that fight via decision.
Since the loss to Lobov, Malignaggi has not competed in any other professional combat sports competition. But as he thought aloud about what attributes and characteristics would be required of Paul’s next opponent, he ultimately landed on himself as the most logical conclusion.
“If he’s gonna fight a real boxer, I think it’s gonna be an older guy, obviously, as they all have been a little older,” Malignaggi began on his YouTube channel. “Despite the non-boxers he fought, they’ve all been a little bit older. But he needs to fight a guy with some notoriety. It can’t just be an older guy who nobody’s ever heard of, right? So he’s always fought smaller guys, so the boxer would definitely have to be smaller if the other guys that he’s fought have been smaller, right?
“So a little bit older, a little bit smaller…you don’t want him to be too big of a puncher. Because let’s face it. Paul is the star here. You wanna make sure you groom the star the right way in fights where he’s at risk but he’s gonna be able to win the fight.
Getty Images
“So we’ve got a little bit older, a little bit smaller, gonna hit him so maybe not the biggest puncher, uhh…Paulie Malignaggi,” Malignaggi concluded with a dramatic pause while briefly staring into the camera.
Malignaggi is 41 years old. His most recent professional boxing match was in a 2017 KO loss to Sam Eggington. On the other side, Jake Paul is only 25, and he was on the giving end of a KO in his most recent bout, which took place last December against Tyron Woodley.
Last year, Malignaggi was critical of Ben Askren for his showing against Paul, stating that Askren fought with a lack of self-worth. Should he be selected as Paul’s next opponent, perhaps “The Magic Man” can show Askren and Paul’s other three victims how it’s done.
Would you be interested in watching a boxing match between Jake Paul & Paulie Malignaggi?
